"I suppose I can't expect you to do otherwise." Deacon will be Deacon, after all. And this is far more along the lines of what Danse had expected when Deacon asked him who to trust, status-quo skepticism from the man who thinks he has to be the chessmaster of a game most people haven't even agreed to play.

There's a little wave of stubborn defiance in response to the notion that his career choices should call his judgment into question, an of course you'd think so, a dismissive thought that Deacon and the rest of his shady compatriots would have a vested interest in discouraging people who want to bring their operations to light--but there's only so hard Danse can still dig his heels in about that when they both know exactly why his career had ended in flames and tears and shoot-to-kill orders, so he pushes it aside.

"I'm not trying to dictate anything here. You asked me what I thought, and this is my answer. I'm just trying to warn you against preemptively burning bridges like I did."